1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to a system which allows an e-mail client to stream videos, in real-time, within the client, and to organize these “video e-mails.”
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, videos are attached to an e-mail and a program separate from the e-mail client is generally required to play the video. When the user receives an e-mail attachment that contains video, that attachment usually has to be fully downloaded to a local system before it may be viewed. Delays can result from download time, virus scanning, or from any of several other impediments to receiving the attachment. Moreover, such video e-mails are not cataloged in any meaningful way so as to allow searching for a specific video. While a user can sort his e-mail by singling out those with a video attachment (e.g., .avi, .mpg, .flv, etc.), this kind of cataloging does not give an idea of the content of the video, beyond, perhaps, the subject line or text contained in the body of the message.
Thus, it would be desirable to more fully integrate a video viewing/sorting system into a user's e-mail experience.